Introduction:

During a presentation, during an exam, during a job interview, during an interview; your posture, your appearance are just as important as your message.

There is your work, there is the result of your work, there is the resulting message that you want to convey and there is the attraction, the desire that you give to your audience.

Attraction, desire are your attractiveness.

The attraction, the desire, it’s you, it’s what you represent.

What do you need to represent to be listened to? 

Remember, nothing is owed.

The sitting position:

During a seated intervention (television, debate, questions in front of a jury, job interview). 

You must have your back straight when using the back of the chair or armchair, your legs are spread apart and stable, your feet placed flat on the floor. The shoulders are apart. You are in an open and stable position. You are an open and stable person. You are confident, without being arrogant. You feel good, at ease, you show it, it shows.

Hand gestures are difficult, Mr. President François Mitterrand had a facial expression in certain cases he stroked the back of his hand. Good image consultants should also help prepare for a debate, if you don't have one, prepare by filming yourself with your mobile phone, then watch.

Breathing:

You breathe with your diaphragm, like singers and wind players. 

This will allow you to better control your air flow (the air column), and this will prevent choppy speech for those who have stage fright. 

To practice, there is the glass of water trick. You blow regularly into a glass of water, making a regular number of bubbles for 30 seconds, then you resume your breathing and start again. This for 5 minutes.

The stomach must be tucked in.

Standing position:

Public speaking, thesis presentation, presentation to the Management Committee, presentation to the Board of Directors, etc.

Legs slightly apart (see an image of the Vitruvian Man). Head held high, speak to the audience. For the shy, look at a person, or a fixed point in the room. The movements of the arms accompany your words, in fact they should slightly precede them as the movements of the Conductor precede the music, since he directs the orchestra (look at the conducting of Claudio Abbado, of Herbert von Karajan, you won't see any excessive gestures, everything is fair).

Also use the “inner” ear to prepare your intervention with a quiet voice (almost inaudible) and out loud, thus preparing your gestures (sober and without excess).

The rhythm of the presentation does not only depend on the content (slide, speech, verbiage), it is punctuated by your movements consistent with your words.

Even for a thesis presentation, you can move rather than stay behind a desk or comment from afar on a projected slide. The movement creates dynamics; when used well, it shows a dynamism appropriate to the subject. So you sell yourself.

The movement on the “stage” will support your speech. Review Steve Job's presentations. For engineers, very technical subjects, I recommend the vision of Bill Gate's presentations. Remember that each of us learns from others, I learned by watching.

All this will also allow you to keep your timing, without having to constantly look at your watch or the clock on your cell phone. It will become natural.

Above all, do not stay behind the screen of your PC at the bottom of an amphitheater reading the slide you are projecting.